This multifaceted billionaire member of the South Korean group BTS boasts a long list of talents. He is a gifted singer, rapper, songwriter, director, record producer and art enthusiast. Be it creating history with his 2022 FIFA World Cup performance or featuring on Rolling Stone’s list of 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, Jeon Jungkook has successfully cemented his name in the global music industry.
With around 22 Korean Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) songwriting credits to his name, Jungkook is one of the most buzz-generating members of BTS since his debut in 2013. He is also one of the fastest K-pop soloists to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify with just three tracks outside his group act — “Stay Alive”, “Left and Right” and “Dreamers“.
In 2022, he created history by becoming the first Korean male artist to chart on Billboard Hot 100 with his OST “Stay Alive”, produced by bandmate Suga, for the septet’s webtoon series, 7Fates: Chakho.
From auditioning in numerous reality shows as a 15-year-old to gearing up for his solo debut in 2023, the BTS member has come a long way.
Here are some lesser-known facts about Jeon Jungkook of BTS
Jeon Jungkook is called Busan Prince
Born on 1 September 1997 in Busan, South Korea, Jungkook is the youngest member of the band, earning him the moniker Golden Maknae. He holds the positions of the official centre, the main vocalist, sub rapper and lead dancer.
Often referred to as Busan Prince by fans and people from his hometown, Jungkook moved to Seoul at the end of 2010 to become a trainee and attended the School of Performing Arts Seoul. His schoolmates included SinB and Umji of GFriend.
7 music labels approached Jungkook before his debut
In 2011, Jungkook participated in the popular Mnet audition programme, SuperStar K Season 3 but never made it to the finals. Despite that, his rendition of 2AM’s “This Song” managed to grab the attention of major music labels in Korea, including Big Hit Entertainment.
During a guest appearance on a 2017 episode of Mnet’s New Yang Nam Show, the BTS singer shared that after his audition, he received calls from around “seven different agencies.”
Jungkook joined BTS because of RM
While JYP Entertainment, FNC Entertainment, TS Entertainment and many other entertainment companies wanted to sign Jungkook, he opted for Big Hit Entertainment. The reason? His love and admiration for the BTS leader Kim Namjoon aka RM, who was an underground rapper back then going by the stage name Runch Randa.
Jungkook has revealed in numerous interviews that when he was living in Busan, he didn’t know a lot of musicians. But he was enamoured by RM’s rapping skills and wanted to know his company.
When he participated in Superstar K, he came across Big Hit’s owner Bang Si-hyuk and learned that RM was a trainee there. A 15-year-old Jungkook then made up his mind to work alongside his inspiration and chose to join the Seoul-based label.
His stage name
The K-pop idol has revealed in numerous interviews that his stage name was almost ‘Seagull’ — a reference to the official bird of Busan. However, he decided to use his real name ‘Jeon Jeongguk’, but later altered the spelling to ‘Jungkook’.
Jungkook can play multiple instruments
The BTS heartthrob loves to learn to play new instruments and never fails to impress. He is good with the guitar and drums and often shows off his skills on various BTS reality shows as well as their concerts. Jungkook also entertains BTS Army — the band’s loyal group of fans — by playing the guitar during his live streams.
Jungkook’s beatboxing skills
Even since his debut days, Jungkook has had a knack for beatboxing. He mixes vocal sounds with beatbox elements to make unique rhythms. He sometimes breaks out into beatbox performances mid-singing.
A black belt in taekwondo
The BTS member has a black belt in taekwondo. He started training in the Korean martial art at the age of 12.
Jungkook’s taekwondo practice video as a kid has around 2.2 million views on YouTube.
Jeon Jungkook is an incredible boxer
The youngest BTS member has showcased his love for boxing in various instances over the past few years. He also joined the Olympic gold medalist and star of Netflix’s Physical: 100 Choo Sung-hoon for a sparring session in June 2022.
When an interviewer asked Sung-hoon about his experience, the mixed martial artist praised the “Butter” singer’s skills and said that he could become a professional boxer if he focused more on his training.
His record-breaking live streams
Jungkook is the king of setting new records with his live streams.
The BTS singer’s 2021 appearance on the South Korean streaming app, Vlive garnered more than 22 million viewers in just 1 hour and 18 minutes. It has the highest recorded real-time views for an individual livestream on the platform.
Jungkook also holds the record for the top four most real-time views for an individual livestream on Weverse — a fan community platform developed by Weverse Company, a subsidiary platform company of HYBE.
The singer’s 2023 Weverse live stream on 1 February broke the record for the most real-time views for an individual on the platform in history, with over 16.3 million views. His livestream the same night holds second place, with over 12.4 million real-time views.
While his Weverse live stream on 3 February 2023 recorded a total of 10 million views, his birthday livestream in 2022 had over 9.5 million real-time views.
First Korean to perform at FIFA World Cup in Qatar
The “Dynamite” hitmaker is the first Korean artist to perform at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Apart from being part of the World Cup Soundtrack “Dreamers” with Qatari singer Fahad Al Kubaisi, Jungkook also performed the song at the opening ceremony of the prestigious sporting event. Thanks to this, in January 2023, he became the first Asian act to have a live performance surpassing 100M views on YouTube.
A passionate visual artist
Did you know Jungkook’s artistic bent goes beyond his musical talents?
While the singer showcased his painting skills during the group’s reality TV series BTS In The Soop, in 2018, he also created the album cover art for Suga’s “Seesaw x I NEED U Remix” — a proof of his graphic design skills.
Another amazing art piece by Jungkook was a beautiful golden clock that he designed for the 24/7 = Serendipity exhibition in 2019.
The latest addition to this list is the 2021 cover art he created for his rendition of Harry Styles‘s “Falling”.
He has his own production studio
Called Golden Closet Film, Jungkook started his own video production studio in 2017. The name is inspired by his old dorm room, which resembled a big walk-in closet, and the first part of his nickname, Golden Maknae.
The most popular work produced by his studio is G.C.F, a travel vlog-style series, shot, edited and directed by Jungkook himself.
‘A.R.M.Y’ was Jeon Jungkook’s first tattoo
The BTS singer has been covering the back of his right hand and sleeve with new inks for a while now. In one of his Weverse lives, the “Still With You” crooner finally gave Army a tour of his tattoos.
Jungkook shared that the first tattoo he got was ‘A.R.M.Y.’ He inked it on his knuckles as he is proud of the BTS fandom and so wanted the symbol in a visible spot. He then gave fans a detailed explanation about his crown tattoo, his birth flower tattoo and the rest.
The South Korean idol also revealed that he has his birth time inked in between his other tattoos.
Obsessed with video games and his pet dog Bam
Jungkook’s love for video games is so deep that he once wanted to be a professional gamer.
The singer is a big fan of the multiplayer first-person shooter game Overwatch. He has also been spotted playing video games like Pyke, Teamfight Tactics and StarCraft on multiple occasions.
And for all those admirers who are curious to know about the love of his life, it is his pet Jeon Bam. The latter is a Doberman and was revealed through JK’s lock-screen wallpaper during his Vlive on 31 August 2021. Bam was officially introduced to the world in the first episode of BTS In the Soop season 2.
Fans often call him Daddy
Besides Golden Maknae, Jungkook has some of the most interesting nicknames.
Fans also refer to him as Golden Boy, JK, Kookie, Jungkookie, Muscle Pig, Bunny and even Daddy. The last one has a special place in the hearts of his fans. So much so, that after his March 2023 campaign with Calvin Klein as the brand’s global ambassador, the hashtag “Daddy” trended for hours on Twitter.
Not just that. Jungkook’s snaps from his Calvin Klein shoot made fans purchase the brand’s items left and right. The ad soon became one of the biggest global campaigns this year and the singer increased the stocks of Calvin Klein’s owning company PVH Corp. by a staggering 20 per cent.
(Hero image: Courtesy bts_bighit/Twitter; featured image: Courtesy Calvin Klien/Twitter)
